Finding Michelina

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Friday, June 20, 2014

Get your mind out of the gutter!
I am talking about my craft room!
Fair Warning this is going to a very picture heavy post -- you have been warned!
Sheesh!!
So about 2 years ago I got my craft room in great shape

And it stayed that way for a little bit...
But then the pics below happened...

Yeah I can't believe I am even showing you these!
I am not proud of it, but I tend to procrastinate and hate to do things right now but would rather do them later...
Reality is later rarely comes
However this winter we had some issues involving leaking walls, a partially collapsed ceiling etc.
The hubs and his father were awesome and fixed the craft room up perfectly for me again so I finally had to put it all back together!!

I love being able to to use in one place instead of hauling it up and down stairs to use with the lap top!

Also funny story about this desk -- when we moved in to our house we thought it was a great idea to try and carry this up 3 flights of stairs on our own... yeah we have the dings and dents on our walls 4 years later and it remains one of our favorite trial of our relationship stories lol

This is the husband's going away gift when he left his last store and he wanted to be able to use it so we put my business cards in it lol

My bookshelf serves dual purpose -- lower 2 shelves hold actual books and some decorations that mean a lot to me and the top shelf is holding a few odds and ends.

Here is a close up of the top of the bookshelf and the wall above

Ribbon is part of the decor which I love

And those 2 hand knit birds were my cake topper made by a high school friend of mine for our wedding!

This sits on the wall to the right of where my desk is

Each bucket is home to a different item: measuring tape, half made projects, pens/pencils, ribbon scraps and all my scissors and craft utensils

I absolutely love this shelf!

I collect shot glasses so this provided a display for those and the bottom part is the majority of my supplies.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Yes you read that correctly... today is my 29th birthday
Growing up I never thought twice about being 30
Age has always been a number to me
I am a firm believer that you are only as old as you believe and allow yourself to be

So to celebrate 29 blessed years of life here are 29 things about me! {Here is another list about me}

1. I was named after my grandmother {Michelina} along with 3 cousins {1 Michelina and 2 Michelle's}

2. Up until this Spring I had no middle name, now my middle name is my maiden name

3. I am the middle child with an older brother and younger sister and the "black sheep" -- but in a good way

4. I was the first person in my family to graduate from high school, college and graduate school

5. I am license eligible for mental health counseling and have been for 5+ years but haven't done anything about it

6. I fell in love with Hawaii when we honeymooned there and have been scheming to find a way to move there ever since

7. I am beyond tone deaf like I could not carry a tune if my life depended on it

8. I sky dived the day after my wedding... slightly hung over... in a desert.... outside Vegas

9. I'm a crier... over everything... and I ugly cry... it is soo embarrassing

10. I developed allergies as an adult to a lot of foods that once were my favorites

11. I am dramatic -- very dramatic and tend to share that drama with others

12. I love clothes and playing dress up and color but look in my closet and it is all cardigans, simple dresses, white, black, gray, dark blue and turquoise lol

13. I am perpetually lazy

14. I can't drive a stick shift

15. I didn't get my license until the day before my 19th birthday

16. My feet have shrunk from a 7-7.5 to a 6-6.5 randomly and I never noticed it until I couldn't wear my old shoes anymore

17. Our next house will probably be picked based on whether I can place a Christmas tree in the entrance by the staircase

18. I hate carpet -- it grosses me out and I cringe at the idea of ever owning a home with any type of carpets including rugs -- rugs only because Basenjis like to tinkle on them

19. I want to own my own shop one day -- I went as far as buying a domain but have not done anything since then

20. I love pink and yellow

21. I am petrified of spiders and any and all bugs and forget about flying bugs I turn into a 5 year old little girl

22. I can somewhat understand spanish and fully understand my father's Italian but can not speak either beyond simple sentences... something I really regret now

23. I was a size 0-2 when I graduated from college now put a 1 in front of those numbers and you have my current state lol

24. I have spent half of my life in Texas and half of my life in NYS

25. I have only been out of the country as far as Canada but I don't count it as it is 30 minutes from home haha

26. I absolutely love to read and my kindle is my favorite thing -- I just need a book light for it

27. I would love to have twins one day

28. I use my feet as my second set of hands -- it freaks out my poor hubs

29. Ever since I was a little kid I have always loved Disney, my mother used to buy us the Disney Classic movies and we still have the VHSs, I got engaged in Disney, honeymooned in Disney and visited last May and I used to write for the blog Disney Divas -- true dedication right there!!

Monday, June 9, 2014

Nothing too serious really but things that play a large role in my current life.

About a year ago now I was having horrible adult acne, I am talking giant under the skin bumps that were painful and ugly and swollen and that my old staple of proactiv no longer helped.

I was so stressed out from it so I did what I always do, I cried and screamed and freaked out until Toby suggested I do something crazy... go see a dermatologist finally.

So off I go - on a side note I absolutely love my dermatologist!

He is old school and vocal and opinionated and just a great guy!

He is honest and tells it like it is which I greatly appreciate.

P.S. no my face regiment involves using a prescription for: akne-mycin 2%, sodium sulfacetamide lotion 10%, minocycline - low dose PRN and my face wash is called: oxy acne medication found here {the original one I used) and here{the current one I use} -- all of this really helped control my acne along with my Rosacea I was diagnosed with this past Fall and BC helps with all of the above also to control hormones etc.

So the doctor takes a look and tells me I have adult acne and that by some of my other symptoms he suggested I get some blood work done and se if perhaps I have PCOS.

Well lo and behold I did/do.

PCOS - a disease that is not life threatening (thank The Lord!) but comes with some frustrating side effects shall we say.

The things I experience are: irregular periods {fixed with metformin and B}, excess facial hair (yeah chin whiskers are what we are talking about here, cute IK) {fixed with BC}, horrible (painful) adult acne {fixed as stated above}, more than likely infertility and weight gain with difficulty losing the weight.

To be honest with the you the most difficult part for me is the weight gain/difficulty losing and the acne.

I can deal with the excess facial hair (it was never that bad but led to some interesting drunken dinner convos with the hubs lol)

I can deal with the potential infertility -- read about my thoughts on kids here -- there are plenty of children in the world who need good homes and I always thought about adopting children so I would not be horribly distraught if it comes down to it

2009

But it has been very difficult eating better, working out 2-3 times a week and actually gaining weight.

I will lose a bit maybe 5 pounds but then I will find myself going right back where I started.

This has caused much frustration for me and my poor hubs who is the person who suffers my frustration most often.

So I decided to do a bit of research and what I found is many women with PCOS have the same problem as me and it appears a low carb diet seems to do the trick so that is the next part of my journey.

2013

I am going to try a low carb diet which would not necessarily hurt me lol.

I don't want to go to any extremes which is why I am not toting a "no carb" diet thing.

But rather I should say a low carb lifestyle.

It won't be easy -- I come from a very italian family that loves pasta, bread, etc.

But I can't allow myself to continue going the way I am

2014

I guess the reason I am sharing this is because it has become such a struggle for me.

Now don't get me wrong it is not that I am defined by my weight/size but rather it is difficult feeling comfortable in a 5'1" body being about 30 pounds overweight especially when I carry the majority of the weight in my stomach, thighs and butt area. It is not proportioned well at all.

And I know there are so many of you out there that struggle with your own stuff I figured maybe someone else has some experience with this

Maybe someone out there can offer some tips, tricks, advice, words of wisdom -- whatever it may be.

Also maybe someone out there will realize they are not alone and there are other people struggling with the same things.

Just to give you an idea of where I was 7 years ago and where I am as of Mother's Day Weekend.

It was slow and steady as the pictures show above but I got to this place and something needs to be done -- diabetes, heart problems and high cholesterol among other things run in my family and I don't want to find myself in an unnecessary position due to not trying all options.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Today I am sharing this adorable skirt I got from eshakti a few weeks ago!

The hubs calls this my umbrella skirt lol

I LOVE it!!

It fits me so nicely and I love the way it feels on!'

Now IDK about you, but I love nothing more than being able to twirl in a skirt and guess what??

This skirt is perfect for twirling!!

So why eshatki?

Well I am glad you asked!!

You can customize length, pockets, material/color and it is made to fit your height and size!!

I should have gotten mine a bit shorter since I am so short but other than that it was perfect.

How could you possibly go wrong with that?!

It was easy to order and they sent a confirmation upon it shipping.

I got my skirt in a timely manner and it was wrapped nice and safely!

I would def. order again!!

Even Nala approves!

So as a treat for you eshatki gave me a code for you: fimeswill get you 10% off your item!!It is valid through the 9th - I know not a ton of time forgive me it has taken me a bit to get this up!!But if you can GO TAKE ADVANTAGE!Totally worth it -- here are some options if you can't decide: here, this one - seriously so cute,I love anchors, obviouslyFYI: I received this item in exchange for my personal opinion and review. All opinions are my own based on my experience with the company and item.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

So with 2014 being here I of course jumped on the bandwagon of eating healthier and exercising and all that jazz

Fair warning this is a long wordy post!

But I promise you, both recipes are worth it!

Today I am going to share 2 recipes I have tried so far.

The first is the green smoothie you see below:

The original recipe came from danielleburkleo and I had to tweak it a bit due to my allergies.

So here is my final recipe:

2 cups packed spinach (didn't use baby cause I had regular on hand)

1 cup semi packed green leaf romaine (cause it was in the fridge and needed to be used)

1 tsp chia seeds

1 not totally full tbsp of sunflower butter

1 cup whole frozen strawberries

1 banana

1 cup coconut milk and ice

The results -- it was not that bad honestly.

I probably won't be craving it but it filled me up, it was pretty tasty and the texture was not bad at all.

Oh and I am already planning on making myself one tomorrow too!

A few things I found out:

-add the liquid and frozen stuff to the bottom of the blender then the greens as it took forever to blend when it was all dry greens at the bottom of the blender.

-it was high in calories (600+) mostly due to the coconut milk I used (300+) - this may not be the case with the almond milk it called for - but I think tomorrow's will be 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup water + ice

-the sunflower butter was very overpowering in the taste - which tends to happen with sunflower butter so tomorrow I will not add it in at all and see how much it changes

-i used strawberries as they were $2 cheaper per bag at the grocery store and worked fine but may be higher in sugar than blueberries so something to keep in mind

But overall I get the whole "green smoothie" concept.

I got a few servings of leafy greens in, an entire serving at least of fresh fruit, water, etc and it replaced my normal bagel.

Now on to my second recipe...

Sorry no pics on this one

We will call it: artichoke, lemon, spinach and asparagus abundance!

What you will need:

1 jar artichoke hearts in seasoned oil/brine

2 chicken breasts

couscous - I used non flavored

1-2 lemons

fresh spinach

garlic

asparagus

salt

pepper

a touch of olive oil

chili powder

How to for chicken:

Split chicken breasts or tenderize them

Salt and pepper your chicken

Heat up 2/3 of the oil from the artichokes in a pan along with a bit of olive oil (if needed)

Add chicken and cook

Add lemon juice and lemon zest directly to pan while cooking

Add chili powder to taste

Once chicken is about half way done, add in half of the artichokes - break up by hand before tossing in the pan - just to warm them up

Once you turn off the heat add 1-2 handfuls of spinach but keep an eye on it if you don't want it to turn that unattractive dark green

Then just let sit until you eat

How to for couscous:

Start water as directed on box but use the last 1/3 of the oil from the artichokes plus water and lemon zest and juice

Season water/oil as directed with salt/pepper and extra olive oil (if you want)

Cook couscous as directed

Once you take it off the heat to finish cooking add in more lemon juice, artichokes - broken up and 1-2 handfuls of spinach

Let sit covered and absorb all those flavors

How to for asparagus:

Normally I would (done what the originally poster of this recipe did and) tossed them in olive oil and salt, pepper and garlic and placed in the oven but we were on a time constraint so instead I...

Cut them into quartered pieces

Placed in microwave safe bowl with enough water to cover

Covered tightly with plastic wrap

Place in microwave 4-5 minutes or until tender

I then added half without anything on them to the couscous

The other half I tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic to taste

I took about 3 recipes I had found, I used 1 entirely to make the couscous - found here and my chicken recipe was supposed to be a stuffed chicken but once again we were on a time constraint so I created something with the same ingredients needed for the stuffed chicken.

The other 2 recipes were where I had gotten the idea for stuffing my chicken with: artichokes, mozzarella cheese and asparagus.

So the verdict -- OMGosh so delicious!!

The hubs and I devoured this for dinner last night and lunch again today!

Totally awesome and only took me about 30 minutes total to make it all!

Some things I would change -

-put the spinach in chicken later so it doesn't turn so ugly in color (taste was fine)

-make wayyy more couscous

-cook asparagus longer or cut thinner

-add more lemon (I love the flavor it gives)

-added more garlic to the chicken (I figured there would be enough in the artichoke brine/oil)

Monday, November 25, 2013

So this was the wedding for my Sunshine!
Sunshine and I have been friends since the 10th grade when I moved to The North Country!
It is kind of funny because we are opposites in every sense of the word!

She is coordinated -- I fall over my own two feet!
She is athletic -- I was the world's BEST bench warmer in volleyball!
She loves her some Gwen Stefani, K-Rock style music -- I am bopping my head to Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj
She is down to earth and a go with the flow girl -- I am high maintenance and high strung haha

But despite these things we have been best friends since we were 15!

So when she got engaged a year and a half after me I was beyond excited for her!

Now I was even more excited when she told me WE HAVE A DATE!!'

We had some mani-pedis
We had a nice rehearsal dinner at a place called Coleman's here in CNY and then came back to my place where.... well things got a bit crazy!!

Yeah look how classy we were at dinner....
Well that quickly went down hill once the hpnotiq came out haha

The day of the wedding we woke up and got ready!
How gorgeous is the hair and bride?
And yes we did go hang out under the dress... what you didn't do that at your BFFs wedding?Oh did I mention... she got married at the ZOO??!!

It was a great night with great food -- drinks -- friends -- dancing
We got to have a mini high school reunion! WooHoo to us!

All in all it was an awesome day!!

Obviously it has been a year since I should have posted this but eh things happen!

This same girl spent 6-8 weeks traveling across the country with her new husband this summer and it was awesome!!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

So if you read this post or this post I have talked about why I blogged and started blogging a few different times.

Well today as I was driving home I looked up and realized the sky was half cloudy and kinda dark and half that beautiful brilliant light blue that you just can't help but be amazed at and I realized I am starting to understand why I started this blog….

I started this blog to "find" myself and my meaning in life - well I have {God willing} another 50-60 years ahead of me and I think I am going to be figuring this out for a long time! But on the other hand I am beginning to push myself to truly discover why I am trying to find myself.

One meaning is to live by what I hope becomes my motto more and more in life - "Life is about perspective." It is so simple and I tend to try and fall back on this {not nearly enough} and today that drive kind of drove this home {pun intended lol}. I realized looking at the sky it was either beautiful or gloomy and dark - you had to choose how you viewed it! Today I chose to view the beauty!! And I thank God that I did!

So I guess to get to the point - I am starting to find myself.

I am realizing it won't just happen but slowly I am becoming the person I want to be.

I am understanding I have to actually work for what i want and make the changes necessary to be the big kid I always dreamed of being haha